Robinhood, Square Cash and More Are All Coming for Coinbase

Coinbase has long been the only way to most convenient way to buy crypto currencies in the US, making over $1 bn last year in fees and revenue from people buying and selling Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

Now, that comfortable dominance is being challenged by none other than Robinhood and Square Cash. I opened my Square Cash app and right next to where it asks you to add Cash, I see an option to buy and sell BTC. Neat.

At the exact same time, I stumbled into Robinhood’s email letting me know that their Crypto service is launching in February and will make it possible to trade not only the 3 main cryptocurrencies but also 7 other alternative currencies all on their platform, completely free. It’s a wonderful deal and I joined their waitlist almost immediately.

What this does is immediately democratize the buying process for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, especially since Robinhood plans to make trading crypto completely free on its platform. No Commissions. It’s going to drive a not insignificant amount of buying power from millenials and others who have mostly needed to trust foreign, shadier exchange firms with their money in order to participate in the Bitcoin craze.

In case I need to spell it out to you, that is bullish for cryptocurrencies.

I also know, for my Nigerian readers that there is a safe and reliable cryptoexchange coming your way very very soon. So Robinhood and Square Cash might not let you use their business from Nigeria but that doesn’t mean you won’t get access or that you’re only going to use peer to peer services like ours. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s always a good thing when things get better.

A lot of noise is made about how much Bitcoin has fallen this year. Oh well. I’m still bullish on crypto. It just requires a lot more work and a lot better understanding of what drives it. And perhaps that’s a good thing.